GS Equities Color US EQUITIES COLOR CONSUMER INERTIA

GS Jeter - US EQUITIES COLOR CONSUMER INERTIA 22 Sep 2026 Mitch Jeter · Goldman Sachs · Analyst, FICC & Equities Tue 22 Sep 2026, 4:59pm ET

S&P +0bps closing @ 7,764 w/ a MOC of $1.3B to BUY. NDX +82bps @ 30,732, R2K +72bps @ 2,896, and Dow -36bps @ 51,863. 17.909bn shares traded across all US equity exchanges vs ytd daily avg of 18.729bn shares. VIX -403bps @ 14.27, WTI Crude -124bps @ $94.59, US 10YR +0.002bps @ 4.9531%, gold +44bps @ 4,362, dxy +12bps @ 100.55 and Bitcoin -82bps @ $86,270.

Equities were modestly higher today, with the NDX having its fourth consecutive day of gains, though index performance was somewhat mixed (NDX > RTY > SPX finishing flat). Oil seeing relief again for the 5th straight day as negotiations continue and headlines suggesting Iran could reopen the Strait of Hormuz within 7 days, contingent on the US easing military pressure. Late afternoon headlines out that Trump thinks there is a "lot of momentum for Iran to make a deal" after indicating in his address to the UN General Assembly earlier today that no deal is expected pre midterm elections.

Most talked about theme on our desk today was the impact of Agentic AI post Meta Muse and the shorting of "Consumer Inertia" names. Our basket, GSXUSWCH (-2.58% today), which has been one of our most actively traded baskets in recent sessions, consists of stocks in industries where customer retention is supported by "behavioral, operational, contractual or financial switching costs." ...in other words, services that are hard to cancel (unless you have Agentic AI do it for you).

Some big movers within the basket today:

PLNT (-9.45%) · NYT (-7.16%) · SCHW (-6.11%) · ALL (-5.55%) · INTU (-3.87%)

Our Desk was a 3/10 from an activity level perspective, finishing -871bps better for sale. Asset managers finished $857mm better for sale with supply in communication services, consumer discretionary, health care, and tech, vs. demand in macro products and materials. Hedge Funds finished $953mm better for sale with supply in communication services, consumer discretionary, financials, and macro products vs. demand in health care.

DERIVS: Agentic AI enthusiasm back in focus as NDX closed at its first record since June while SPX closed unchanged. NDX fixed strike vols were bid today as spot outperformed particularly in the belly and back-end of the curve. On the recent rally, we have seen vol finally lift off the floor that seemed to sink to new lows throughout the summer. Skew steepened in gamma tenors into the afternoon but closed the day in the red along with pure vega tenors. In SPX, spot was unched close-to-close, and fixed strike vols were offered while skew was crushed. Flows wise, the desk was quieter but the market saw buyers of VIX Oct optionality - both the Oct 17 straddle and Oct 18 puts were bought 20k times. We like the Oct 20 Calls as they're currently offering attractive convexity for a relatively low price ahead of a packed calendar. On the macro/thematic side, we saw two-way flow in XLF as the sector sold off on risks posed by agentic AI. In

semis, we saw demand for upside across a variety of tenors. The S&P implied move through tomorrow is 40bps ahead of the META connect developer conference and MCD and AUR investor days. (TY Gail Hafif) Source: Goldman Sachs FICC & Equities, as of 22 September 2026. Authors: Mitch Jeter, Ariana Contessa, Lilly Belt, Mike Washington.